New Dreams
by UmbreonFall
Summary: Max had only one goal in mind and that was to be a Pokemon Master. His best friend, Kara, had the same goal. Unfortuanately, Max is in an accident leaving him paralyzed from the chest down his goal couldn't be completed. But, when he is offered to be cured by a private organization but taking on the form of a Pokemon instead, his goal could be attained differently.
1. Chapter 1 - A Cruel Beginning

**A/N: Hello wonderful readers. Welcome to my first ever Pokemon TF story. The style I'm trying to go for isn't some kind of award winning story with professional elements and all that stuff. I'm trying to write this like you were watching an anime or show. So there will be a lot of dialogue but with some informational paragraphs. I hope you guys do enjoy the story and I can't wait to hear the feedback. Thanks guys.**

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The day today was a perfect day in the Jinza region. The weather was nice and cool, the slow breeze perfected the temperature even more. It was a late afternoon summer with the day turning into twilight. It was also a perfect day for battle. A perfect day to battle my best friend, Kara. We set ourselves up in a clearing in the small forest, her across from I with about fifty yards between us. Plenty of space to do battle. Both of us ready to test our strength, we stared at each other for what seemed for a full five minutes. I broke the silence to start this battle off.

"Come on Kara, let's see what you got!" I exclaimed as I saw her pull a pokeball out of her bag. I did the same. Pulling out my one and only Pokemon, Marshtomp.

"Oh, you'll see what I got Max!" She exclaimed as she threw the ball out to the field on the outskirts of Cinna City. "Go, Gem!" A flash of light soon revealed a bright purple pokemon, Espeon. Espeon let out a cry of strength and courage. I always liked that pokemon, it was a beautiful and gracious one. Who couldn't think the same? I grabbed my Marshtomp and threw his pokeball out to the arena.

"Go, Kipper!" another flash of light then revealed a Marshtomp letting out a courageous cry. I named him Kipper due to his first evolution Mudkip. I wasn't that great with names two years ago, he likes it anyways. No need to change something great.

Looking at Kara, she looked determined as I was to win the battle. Her long brown hair almost blocked off her sky blue eyes. My black hair wasn't long enough to do that, thanks to my trusty black and red cap. With that, she decided to take the first move. "

"Gem use Quick Attack!" Kara yelled. Gem swiftly began to move towards Kipper. Knowing how slow he was, he wouldn't be able to dodge the attack.

"Kipper use Mud-Slap!" I commanded, Skipper grabbed a small fin full of mud and threw it right at the vastly approaching Gem. The move connected hitting Gem right in her eyes, blinding her. She was going to fast to stop and ran right past Kipper into a tree. I commended Kipper quickly, knowing the fight was far from over.

"Alright Kipper, use Water Gun!" Kipper began to load up the water in his mouth before spewing it on the opponent. Gem got up to see this and was commanded again.

"Quickly Gem, use swift!" As soon as Kara said this, Kipper began to spout out water like a fire hydrant. Not even commanded, Gem jumped up high and sent a fury of star shaped projectiles toward Kipper. He tried to aim at the star projectiles and hit all but one that came down on him with a direct hit to his head, he was stunned and Kara saw this as an opportunity.

"Alright Gem, use Quick Attack!" Gem again ran fast towards the stunned Kipper. I was about to yell out to get him to dodge it, but it was too late. Gem with all her might ran full speed right into Kipper knocking him back and weakened from the fight.

"Kipper, you okay?" I asked loudly, he looked back at me and nodded. I looked at Kara who was looking rather happy at the outcome of the battle. Both our Pokemon were on equal footing. Someone had to end the fight. "Alright Kipper, let's end this! Use Mud Bomb!" Out of thin air, Kipper pulled out a giant mud bubble and launched it at Gem.

"Gem, attack it with Psybeam! Then tackle Kipper!" Gem then sent out a rainbow colored beam at the Mud Bomb bursting it into oblivion. She then rushed at Kipper.

"Kipper use tackle!" This was risky, but I had a plan. Kipper trusted me on every decision and this time that didn't fail. He ran at full speed towards Gem who was already heading that way. Both Pokemon were running, it was like watching a game of chicken, who was going to back off first? I could tell Kara was just as curious as I was to see the outcome of this one or I tried to let her think. Right before the collision, I yelled out to Kipper,

"Dodge it, then use Water Gun!" Kipper then jumped up doing a front flip over the confused Gem and crushed her with the high pressured water spew, causing Kipper to hover in the air. I looked over to see Kara, she didn't even flinch. She had a sly grin on her face. I knew she was planning something, I was clueless to say the least.

"Gem, use Psychic on the Water right back at him!" Kara yelled. I didn't expect this at all, neither did Kipper. Gem then surrounded the oncoming water with a purple haze and made the water pathway back to Kipper knocking him up high. "Okay, now use quick attack!" Kara commanded again. Gem jumped into the air at extreme speeds. She jumped above the falling Kipper and slammed him downward onto the hard ground. Kipper was down but not out, but he couldn't take another hit like that. He slowly got up back into his fighting stance. Suddenly an idea came to mind.

"Alright Kipper, use Mud-Slap!" I commanded, Kipper then began to throw a barrage of mud piles at Gem. And as expected, she dodged them. "Now, use Mud Bomb aim in front of her!" He then created again mud filled water balls out of thin air and threw them. As commanded he threw them right in front of Gem creating a smoke screen effect. I couldn't tell, but I knew Kara was confused. "Use water gun to project yourself over the smoke and go in for the tackle!" This was risky but it had to work. The smoke cleared enough for me to see Gem still blinded and coughing up dirt.

"Now Kipper!" I commanded, and as fast as a bullet he dove down and directly hit Gem for the tackle. I jumped excitedly for the hit, hoping for a knock out. But Gem pushed Kipper back. She looked as weak and tired as Kipper did. Sweat was running down my face like a fountain, I had to be the one to end this. "One last push Kipper, Tackle now!" I commanded.

"Gem, tackle as well!" Kara commanded Gem, she ran out towards Kipper for the attack. Just like before our Pokemon bull charged each other. Kipper had to be faster due to his weight, at least match Gem's. As the Pokemon got closer and closer, I half-expected Kara to do something last minute. But she didn't, and before I knew it, the Pokemon both collided creating a dust cloud. None of us could see what was in the middle all we could do was wait for the wind to carry the dust.

Eventually it did, and we both looked down to see that both Kipper and Gem both were knocked out, collapsed on the ground. Both Kara and I ran up to our Pokemon to check on them. I knew that our Pokemon would be fine, their used to battling and getting revived down at the Pokemon Center. It was easier for Kara and I to talk.

I picked up Kipper, "Good job bud, you did great." As I said this, I returned him to his poke ball. I looked over to see Kara doing the same.

"Good job as always Gem, we'll get you fixed up here soon enough." Kara then returned her pokemon back to her poke ball." We both got up and laughed at another same result. A tie.

"Looks like it's a tie again Kara." I said laughing, she smiled too. Every time her and I sparred, the outcome would be the same. A tie. We were just too similar in our battling that we couldn't out smart each other.

Kara and I have been best friends ever since she moved to Rozetown ten years ago. She moved right next door to me and we instantly clicked for some strange reason. We were best friends and far from rivals. We were always there for each other, and had each other's back and being the same age of 6, made it so much easier for us to grow up together to become the wise age of 16.

"Well one of us has to lose eventually! We both can't become the champion." Kara exclaimed hysterically with not a single trace of jealousy or hate at all.

"I think they can make an exception for us." As I said this we began to walk back to Cinna City to heal our pokemon. Cinna City was only a two hour walk from our home in Rozetown. We liked to come to the outskirts in the quiet to practice. Hardly any trainers came out there and it was quite peaceful to be with my best friend.

Cinna City was like any other city in any other region. Lots of big business buildings, cars going on highways and a lot of great restaurants. The other thing it had was it's very own Pokemon Gym. Kara and I agreed that the first one to beat the other would get to challenge the gym leader first. But, as it seems. No one out of us has won just yet. As we began the twenty minute walk back, we could see the gym on the edge of one of the big marketplaces. Inspiring us both to get better and better.

I looked at the sky and saw that it was nearly sun down.

"It's getting late." I heard Kara say, soon after my stomach growled for food. We both laughed aloud. "And it's getting time for dinner." I opened up my backpack to see if I had had any food with me. I looked inside all the pockets and realized I left all the food back at home.

"Well, that's just great." I said, Kara looked over at me, she already knew what was up. "It looks like we'll be staying the night here in Cinna City." In a way, it was on purpose. The food was just too good to pass up in the city. Kara could tell.

"Let me guess, you 'forgot' to pack the food up." Kara rolled her eyes at me whilst using her fingers to air quote forgot. But I knew she didn't mind, she liked eating here too. I elbowed her playfully as we were close to the gates of the city. It was around six o'clock which meant busy streets for the businesses.

"I'd better call home real quick." I grabbed my phone out of my bag and called my father back in Rozetown. The phone rang for a good five seconds before the familiar voice picked up over the buzzing.

"Hello?" My dad asked, he sounded a bit tired.

"Hey Dad, I'll be spending the night up here in Cinna City with Kara." I answered a bit embarrassed, and as if he read my my mind he then said,

"Let me guess, you didn't pack any food." I was surprised, trying to answer,

"It was on accide-..."

"On purpose, I know." my dad interrupted me. Even my lies couldn't get pass him. I laughed at how he read me like book.

"Okay, okay maybe it was on purpose." I answered, still chuckling. I could hear him laugh a bit too.

"Well, you guys have fun. Just make sure you make it home tomorrow." He said softly. I thanked him and promised him that I would be there. Ending the call I found that we made it to the small park that connects the wilderness and Cinna City together.

"Looks like we're all good." I told Kara who was by my side.

I took a good glance at the surrounding park. It was a peaceful park with such a great Summer atmosphere and scenery. Beautiful wooden bridges over the creeks the surrounded it. It was the ideal get away spot for city people with family's enjoying a day out, trainers and their Pokemon were running around for a jog. The entire scene was just peaceful to watch. Kara seemed to believe the same thing. Easily, I could see myself living out my life here after my or Kara's dream has been fulfilled.

"You know I think this is my favorite part of the entire city." I said, chuckling a little bit.

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" Kara asked, expecting a funny answer.

"Because it isn't the city part." I answered, getting a small giggle and a sigh from Kara.

"Well aren't you just hilarious." she said back sarcastically, hitting me on the shoulder.

The soon beautiful part of Cinna City quickly changed to one of it's lesser parts. The business streets. We exited the park and had made our way back to the city limits. The entire city was like a big circle with towering buildings touching the skies. The road system here was easy to manage since all the roads connected to the middle. I was told that the city was designed by the same person who designed Castelia City's streets. It was a great design, it really helped all the people in the city of getting around.

We crossed the first outer street, where a lot of people were walking. Majority of them on their phone doing "important" things. We headed on the Eastern side of the city where the Pokemon Center was.

"So are we gonna drop Kipper and Gem off at the Pokemon Center and go to The Golden Krabby?" Kara asked, The Golden Krabby was a fantastic restaurant. With Cinna City being the biggest city in the pokemon fishing industry, they always had some of the best seafood. That and that's the only seafood I've ever had.

"Um, yes? Is that even a question?" I answered. I wasn't really worried about our Pokemon. I'm sure they didn't mind the time to themselves and being able to relax from all the training and goofiness Kara and I put them through. We knew Cinna City was a safe place and that we were safe from any harm. I know I could handle myself if it did come down to anything rough. We continued to walk through the herd of people all the way across town. The sun had already gone down and the moon was high in the sky.

We saw the familiar red roofed building within a hundred feet of us. For some reason, it made me feel safer and secure. Could be the color red, who knows?

Both of us walked through the sliding glass doors into the Pokemon Center. I looked around and saw a bunch of different trainers and Pokemon some familiar faces. We were waved at and high fived by some of the trainers there, for who we saw a lot. Kara and I were quite known at this Pokemon Center. Everyone else was conversing, seeking guidance as well as lodging like Kara and I. Every time that we had entered this place, I'd always be impressed with what I saw. I saw trainers grow so much with their Pokemon to where they are today. New trainers came and went every time as well, it always inspired me to be my best and to be the best.

As we approached the desk, Nurse Joy was standing there helping another trainer before turning around to us. The trainer was in tears and looked no older than ten. He had a fainted, roughed up Pidgey in his hand. No doubt he just lost a battle.

"You'll t-take care of her won't you?" he asked as Nurse Joy gently grabbed the fainted Pidgey, slowly caressing her wing.

"She will be just fine, don't you worry." she said, which made the kid feel better. He then walked over to talk with three other trainers I had recognized. They gladly brought him in to the conversation trying to cheer him on in getting better. Before Nurse Joy walked away to the back, she said, "I'll be right with you two." We exchanged smiles and she walked to the back to treat the Pokemon. If Nurse Joy wasn't the Pokemon nurse here, I don't know who I would go to for my Pokemon. She was so gentle, sweet and just great with people and Pokemon.

Before long, Nurse Joy came back out behind the desk. "Sorry for the wait. How can I help you?" She politely asked us.

"No worries at all," I said politely, both Kara and I put our pokeball's on the desk.

"We'd like our Pokemon healed as well as two rooms for the night please." I explained,

"Absolutely." Nurse Joy said, gladly took up our pokeball's and put them on a tray. She also grabbed two sets of keys and handed one to each of us.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Kara thanked her, putting her key in her over the shoulder bag. I put mine in my jeans pocket. "We'll be down the street getting dinner and we'll be back soon if that's okay." Nurse Joy just looked at us smiling.

"That shouldn't be a problem what so ever. We'll leave your Pokemon with us until you get back." She said, Kara and I smiled.

"Thank you so much." Kara thanked her as we headed our way out the door. We waved goodbye to Nurse Joy as we made our way back out into the now dark Cinna City, illuminated by the bright street lights. It was quite a sight to see, the city looked so much prettier at night, but was still in no compare to the beauty of the park. There weren't that many people out and about now so walking down the street to The Golden Krabby was easy.

"Oh I can't remember the last time I had seafood." I joked, well knowing that I had it last week. Kara just chuckled,

"I'm not even gonna start with you." Kara answered laughing, she the gave me a friendly punch.

"But it's been a full seven days since I've had it though!" I exaggerated hysterically, trying to slightly embarrass her by my act. She tried to stop me by pushing me playfully, giggling all the way. We both started to laugh at my ridiculousness.

We eventually came across The Golden Krabby and the scent of freshly grilled seafood filled the air. It was designed to look like an old window drive in diner. You could either drive up to the window or walk up to one. On the top of the building was a sign of a yellow illuminated Krabby, with the words The Golden Krabby above it. The place was hardly busy at all. Only a couple of families and cars were there.

I took a deep breath to take in all the wonderful smells and how pleasant of a night it would be. Gleefully I walked up to the counter to order my food. Looking over the menu anxiously until thevsmiling young woman, wearing a white buttoned up shirt and a bowtie at the counter asked,

"Welcome to The Golden Krabby! What can I get for you today?" I was about to answer until something caught my eye. I looked over to my right to see a very shady looking person, wearing a long trench coat as if he was hiding something. It didn't bother me at first so I turned back to the lady,

"I'll take the.." I started to say until that man came over to me and shoved me out of the way. He opened up his trench coat to reveal that he had a long barreled pistol aimed right at me. He had a tense and angered look, sweat coming off of his brow. I slowly backed off with my hands up, so did Kara. The man turned around to the lady at the counter, pointing the gun inconspicuously at her.

"Empty the register and your pockets now!" he demanded, the girl hesitated. The man got impatient and shot the gun in the air as a warning shot causing the people near the restaurant and the streets to run and panic. Kara started to run off but I stayed put.

"Max! Come on!" Kara yelled, almost in tears from fear. I looked back at her and then looked back at the man, his back to him. I wasn't going to let this girl get hurt and not let this man get away with this. Swiftly and fast, I kicked him in the back of the knee. He screamed out in the pain and got knocked to his knee. His gun hand went up to where I could take it from him. I reached for it and grabbed it, but he was too strong. Both of our hands on the gun, struggling to get ahold of it. He regained his full strength and took it from me. He pushed me away from him having about ten feet of space, holding me at gun point. Never had I been so scared, or put in such a helpless state.

"You shouldn't have done that, stupid kid." The man angrily spat, he pointed the gun right at me. For what I thought the last few moments of my life was. I looked up at the sky remembering all the people I had known. Dad, Kara and Kipper... and Mom. He cocked back the pistol and aimed at my head. _I'm coming home Mom_ , I thought to myself.

When I thought it was all said and done, I hear Kara screaming from behind. I look back to see her fully charging the man. He smiled greedily as he slowly pointed the gun at her. That didn't stop her from running, I couldn't let her die. She had to live on. I ran towards the crossfire, trying to push Kara out of the way. As I jumped to push her out of the way, all I heard was a loud gunshot, and I felt a sharp sting in my spine. I had been shot.

Time was at a standstill for me, still in the air heading for the hard asphalt street. So many thoughts were rushing through my head I couldn't process anything but the fact that I had been shot in my spine. _Had I been paralyzed? Is Kara okay? Is the man still firing? Is he going to shoot Kara?_ These thoughts raced through my head. Time began to slowly pick up as I roughly hit the ground at a running speed. The cries that I made sounded inhumane. The pain felt like someone just jackhammered my back and then tried to hammer a nail in it. I laid on my front in effort to stop the pain as much but it wouldn't work.

"Max!" Kara cried out, I heard her sobbing as she came over to me. My eyes were glued shut trying to compensate the pain. I slowly opened them up to see the man still there with his gun. Cocking it one more time, this one was for Kara. The man walked up closer and closer and aimed the gun right down at Kara. She closed her eyes, crying, waiting for it to be over. I tried to raise my hand, in a pointless effort to block the bullet, but even my arm wouldn't move. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was his evil grin as he was about to pull the trigger. Then there was a gunshot, but not from him. I opened my eyes back up to see that he had been shot by the Cinna City Police. He collapsed to the ground and I looked back up at Kara who was shaking and crying.

"I'm sorry Kara." Was all that I could say, it was stupid of me to try to be the hero. Take out an armed man, unarmed. She couldn't reply but just cry. I started to drift away, the pain was getting to me, and I was losing to much blood. Death was calling me, I could feel it.

"Max, you need to stay with me! Don't you go!" Kara exclaimed, her tears falling on my jacket. Too weak to say anything, all I did was drift off into darkness.

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 **Thank you so much for reading! Chapter 2 will be out soon so don't you worry! We'll get to see what happens to Max and Kara very soon.**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Decision

**A/N: Welcome back fellow readers! Finally out with chapter 2! I've had a busy week at college/university so far. Reason being for the couple days of no update. But, nonetheless it is here and we get to see what happens to Max now.**

 **Enjoy!**

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It was dark. Nothing existed, not even me. Just a dark void of nothingness. There was no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste and nothing to feel. _Am I dead?_ I thought to my nonexistent self. For if this was the light at the end of the tunnel, it surely was a let down. Thinking of the last few moments of my life in replay. The man in the coat, the stupid hero attempt, Kara trying to save me then me getting shot. I thought of her, Kara, my best friend. How would she hold up having to complete her quest alone? Would she even go for her goal without me?

As much as I wanted to cry, I couldn't. All I could do was think within this dark void, not even speak. Just the thought of Kara having to give up her goal because of me just destroyed the little of me that survived. If I still had a heart to break, it would've broken ten times over.

All of sudden I could hear something, it was soft and ticking in perfect period. _What could that be?_ I thought. It got louder slowly by the second. It got loud enough for it to be a very strong, definitive beeping sound. Like... a heart monitor? _Am I_ _still alive?_ I thought. Could it be possible for me to have survived a shot like that. Surely, that bullet pierced more than just my spine?

I looked to what I thought was up and saw a small beam of light make it's way toward my nonexistent self. Not able to do anything, I waited for the beam of light to capture me. The light soon became blinding and encased me in it back into conscience.

The light soon evaporated into nothing but more blackness. My eyes were closed, but the beeping was still going. Softer than it was in the void but more definitive now. I slowly opened my heavy eyes to see that I was in a hospital room. I looked down to see my arms were hooked up to to anesthetics and other unknown devices. There was a monitor above me showing my heart beat, the source of the beeping. I looked around the room to notice the blinds to the windows were shut, there was a table next to me that had flowers and cards saying, "Get well soon!" and other inspiring messages to me. There were guest chairs as well, and they had jackets resting on them. Dad's big green jacket, and Kara's pink one. They were here.

"Dad... Kara..." I weakly said to the empty room, no response obviously. Happy to know that they were here, but sad that they weren't around. _Maybe they went to go get food?_ I thought. The digital clock on the wall stated, "12:13 P.M." Too bad it did't have the date on it, not sure how long I've been out. I managed to see a calendar on the wall by the entry door, but it was too small and far away for me to read. I tried to bend up a little to see if I could read it, but that caused a sharp, tense pain in my upper back which caused me to screech in pain. I pounded my head against the pillows, closed my eyes and gritted my teeth to compensate the pain, but it was too intense.

"Max?" I heard a cry from out the door, it was Kara. I looked over to the door as it opened up fast. Dad and Kara both standing there with drinks in their hand. I looked to her, relieved that she was here as she looked back at me as if I had been dead. She put down her drink and began to cry, "Max..." she softly said beneath her tears. She then ran up to me and hugged me, trying her best not to hurt me. I put my arm that didn't have strings attached to around her, I teared up as well. I looked back to my dad, who made his way to the other side of the bed. He teared up as well, falling into his beard.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, stronger than my last words I said. Kara then released me and looked at me in the eyes.

"You were put in a coma for a week." she said, wiping her tears off her face.

"A week?" I exclaimed softly, my mind was still foggy. Probably the drugs.

"Max, do you remember what happened?" My dad asked,

"All I remember was that I was shot and that's it." I said, a bit frustrated. Well knowing that I had just replayed the information back in the void. Again, the drugs were doing this.

"Max," Kara said, "You saved my life." she was in tears again. It all became a little clearer now, I remember her trying to run at the gunman who was aiming at me. My hero instincts told me to protect her and push her out of the way. Dodging the bullet or taking it.

"Yeah, I remember now." I said. Feeling a little bit better I wanted to lighten the mood. "So, when can I get back on my feet and back to training?" I smiled trying to get her or my Dad to laugh. They both had devastated looks on their faces. Something bad happened.

"Max, I..." My Dad began start, tears falling down both of their faces. My ears didn't want to hear the bad news, but I needed too. "I hate to tell you this but...that bullet shattered two of your vertebrae's in your lower spine." The only words I heard were shattered, vertebrae and spine. My dad was about to say what the damage was but I knew what it was already. If I wasn't so shocked, I would have cried.

"Oh." Was all I could say, "But, couldn't I just be in a wheelchair?" It was something to hope for, I could still manage to move around the Jinza region by that. But even that was crushed when my Dad simply shook his head. Kara grabbed my hand to prepare me for the kicker. My Dad didn't even looked prepared to tell me.

"There had been so much damage to your spine that sitting up straight would cause devastating results on your body." My Dad had to cover his face while crying, it caused a few tears to roll down my face. He then tried to jumble out a sentence, but his tears and actions caused it to be inaudible and he sat down in the chair next to me, his head in his hands.

It was hard to see my Dad like this. Being ex-military, tough and strong man in such a weak position. It devastated me. To see Kara like this as well. The only time she ever cried this much was, well never. Trying to be the hero put them here, but I don't regret trying to do the right thing.

But I knew what he meant, I'd be bedridden for the rest of my life. Doing nothing but waking up, eating, nothing and sleeping. Rinse and repeat everyday. I couldn't become Pokemon Master anymore, I couldn't become the best. That dream had gone.

In the midst of all our crying and mourning, there was a knock on the door. All of us thought it was the nurse. Kara quickly wiped away her tears and said,

"Come in." Expecting someone wearing scrubs. An older man, wearing a suit with a red tie walked in. All confused at this.

"Who are you?" I asked, he slowly walked in, my Dad got up, clearly not welcoming him in. Kara moved beside me looking at him as well. He stopped in the middle of the room.

"Are you Max?" he asked to me, a little quietly.

"That would be me." I answered, a little on edge. His presence was a bit warm, but still offsetting. "Who are you?" I asked again, a little frustrated having to ask twice.

"My name is Quinten of Crysta organization. I'm here to offer some help." he answered pulling a chair next to me. I've never heard of Crysta before. Not sure if that was a good thing or not. I was going to ask him what kind of help, but my Dad butted in.

"You can help, by leaving us alone." He said, extremely defensive. Quinten looked at him confused, but not shocked at the first response. He began to get out of his chair but curiosity got the best of me.

"Wait," I said, Kara and Dad surprised. Quinten froze in place. "What kind of help?" I asked, curious at how he would do this. He slowly got comfortable in his chair. Both Kara and my Dad still on the fence on how they felt about this.

"I'd like to discuss this in private. If that's okay." He said, looking at my Dad and Kara. Kara was about to blow.

"No way! Whateve-" Kara began to yell,

"Kara!" I said, she stopped mid sentence and looked down at me. "It's fine, I want to talk to him. I'll be fine." Both my Dad and Kara were again surprised at this. They looke at each other and slowly exited the room. Confused but I knew they'd be by the door in a heartbeat if I needed anything. They closed the door behind them.

Quinten and I were left alone in the quiet hospital room.

"I heard that you were a hero last week." Quinten started.

"Well, look where that ended me up." I said, sarcastically, not sure where he was trying to go with this.

Quinten began to stand up, a little shocked at my negativity. He walked to the window. "You stood up against the gunman. Not a lot of people would even think about doing that." he said. He was right. Not even Kara did that. Only I stood up to the gunman. "You saved a lot of people. You saved your best friend Kara," I was flashed back to the moment I pushed Kara out of the way, taking the bullet. The part in my back I still could feel had a soft pain from the memory. "You possibly saved a police officer as well. Who knows how many officers he could have shot?" Faintly, the memory of the police surrounding the man and shot him dead. "Lastly, you saved my daughter."

"I did what?" I asked, in shock. Not sure what he was talking about. There were plenty of people around that restaurant, same to say about the street. Full of people.

"You saved my daughter," He then turned around and he had shed a few tears. "She was the one the gunman confronted, the young lady working." Vaguely, I knew who he was talking about. She was my to be server at the window. He wiped his tears from his face with a tissue.

"I didn't think about it like that." I said. To me she was just another face in the crowd. To see the appreciation off of this man made it seem like the injury was even more worth it. Saving my best friend, and this man's daughter. That's what a hero does.

"To even further my thanks, I want to give you the opportunity to be healed. At no cost, to you or your family." Quinten said, with a big smile on his face. This caused a smile on my face as well. Knowing I could still be a hero and complete my dream. But, one thing confused me. What could he do that the hospital couldn't do?

"That sounds great. But what can you do that this hospital can't?" I restated aloud. Something wasn't added up. He then walked back to me to sit in the chair.

"Well, at my company Crsyta Organization. We have come up with a way to heal any disease, mend any damaged organs and cure the incurable." he said. I thought he and his team had just expanded on stem cell research. Something I knew little on, but enough to be aware of it's possibilities. "It's a process known as Poketranstherapy." The whole word he said had me in for a loop. He noticed my confused look and chuckled a bit.

"Pokewhat?" I asked, usually big words weren't hard for me to dissect. But like before. Drugs. He laughed a bit before he broke it down.

"Poketranstherapy is a process of where we completely transform a human being into a Pokemon, curing every possible injury and disease whilst keeping all memories and emotions." he said. I had to think that through and repeat that sentence in my head to make sure it wasn't the drugs saying that. Looking for any sign of lies or scams in his expression, I couldn't find any. He was being serious. "Our plan with this project is to just use this therapy to heal people at the speed of how a Pokemon can heal." It was such a brilliant idea, so much that he could win an award. But, I'm not sure if I could go through with it let alone believe it. It seemed to science fiction. He saw the disbelieving expression that was left on my face.

"Let me prove it to you." he said. He sat down and pulled out his rather large phone with a giant screen on it. He also pulled out a weird ear piece attached with a mic. He placed the ear piece in his, well, ear and began to turn on his phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked, he continued to tinker on his phone.

"Not, many people know, but I have another daughter." He said, looking down at his phone. "Two months ago, she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. That can be scary for a girl only fourteen years young." he said. Not sounding sad at all. Though I pitied him, I knew what it was like to lose someone close.

"Sorry to hear that." I said, a bit sadly. He then began to video call someone by the name of Gina. Could be his wife or perhaps his daughter that I had saved.

"Well, I would be grieving if I had lost her." Maybe she was still fighting it in the hospital, or just has a few months more to live. When he finished the sentence a Vulpix was shown up on the screen. She looked to be in a small bed, like it was built specifically for her. She also had a green bow tied around her ear. I was a bit weirded out by this, why was he showing me this Pokemon?

"Vulpix! Vulpix!" the small, red fox yelped happily. She was directing it towards Quinten.

"Hi darling, how are you?" he asked, sweetly as if to his own daughter. The Vulpix smiled brightly back at his warm smile.

"Vulpix! Vul!" the Vulpix said brightly again. I was so confused to hear what was going on. It didn't make sense, I stepped in.

"Okay, I don't what this is all about but I feel like you're pulling something." I said, he simply smiled and laughed. So did the Vulpix, she knew something too. He handed me his phone as well as the ear piece.

"Here put this on. It will all make sense then." he said. Just to make him feel better about it, I did. It was a bit awkward to put on, due to it's awkward triangle shape. Eventually I did, and I looked at the Vulpix. It stayed quiet for the time I was struggling. "Alright Gina, go ahead and introduce yourself." The Vulpix brightly looked at me before absolutely making me question everything.

"Hi, my name is Gina!" the Vulpix said to me, sounding like a fourteen year old girl. This couldn't be real, a Pokemon talking. I freaked out almost dropping Quinten's phone. I thought about it for a second, it was the ear piece.

"What? How?" Was all that I managed to say. Stunned by a Vulpix being able to talk. Both Quinten and Gina laughed at my reaction.

"Max, I'd like to introduce you to my other daughter Gina." Quinten said, pointing to the talking Vulpix. "She went through the process and came out like this. Cancer free, and happier than ever." I looked over to the Vulpix and she was nodding her head in agreement. I was speechless, to me she would have been just another Pokemon. But now, this was a human turned Pokemon. She looked so happy, as if she'd always been like this. A question that had always crossed my mind just crossed it again, so I had to ask.

"What does it feel like, you know, to be a Pokemon?" She smiled at me and said,

"It feels different, but I still feel human." Not really answering my question into great lengths. I was happy with it. "But to be honest, I love it more than being human."

"Why do you believe that?" I asked, she seemed to be looking a bit sad at my question.

"Well, I get so much attention now. I've made so many friends, Pokemon and humans alike." She began to brighten up, possibly she was thinking about her life before and after. She was sincere too, not one bit of doubt or deceiving I detected. She sounded, happy.

"That, that's great." I said, impressed a how well she had taken the whole process. Trying to imagine how life would be for me if I took this chance, I just couldn't. You could have shown me a million different patients happy with their transformation, I still would be on the fence about this. But, it still was an eye opener. "Thank you Gina, it was a pleasure to meet you." I said, wishing her the best. She wagged her tail a bit.

"You too Max! I can't wait to see you after your treatment!" she said, thinking that she changed my mind. I gave her the benefit of doubt and smiled and waved her goodbye before she ended the call. I took off the translating ear piece and gave it back to Quinten with his giant phone as well. He smiled and put his stuff on the table next to him.

"So, what'll it be?" he asked. He was more than likely thinking my mind was changed, but it wasn't. Thinking over the whole situation and the treatment. It seemed like too much but, still I was on the fence about it all.

"I don't know how I could do this." I said, extremely leaning on the answer no, but still leaving room to be persuaded. My human mind tried to imagine life as a Pokemon. But, it couldn't even do that. Quinten leaned in closer.

"Max, imagine. Being able to move around again, possibly fly, or even breath underwater and so much more." he said, very passionately. His persuasion was working. I was now in the middle of the decision. Thinking it through and through again, this wasn't a decision I could make on my own.

"I'm still unsure about all this. Becoming the one thing I wanted to train and team with." I said, trying to get another persuasive sentence out of him. He stood up.

"How about this? I'll be back in an hour, consult with your father and friend and make your decision." he said, brushing off his shirt. "If you'd like to go through with therapy we'll start tonight at my building here in Cinna City. If not, I won't bother you ever again." He then reached his hand out to shake mine. I did and shook it as firm as my body could manage. He turned towards the door and opened it.

So much information all at once hurt my head. Just the thought of changing from a human to a Pokemon just blew me away. But, there's no way Dad would approve of this. It's unnatural, there's always the possibility of me not liking it and there would be no way back. True, I could talk to my dad and Kara but, how would they feel about me? Being a Pokemon. I don't know, I think it's best I stay in my own skin.

My dad then walked in to the room, but no Kara. It was probably the best to share with him first.

"Kara's parents called, just wanting to know what's going on. She'll be back in awhile." As if my Dad read my mind. He sat down in the chair where he was before Quinten came in and blew my mind in a good and bad way. I gave him a confused look, trying to warn him at the news that I had just received. "What did he want?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"He said he could cure my paralysis." I said, not wanting to overload him with information. Easily lay it on him. Just at these words his face lit up, excited at the news.

"Max, that's... that's great!" he said. Being extremely relieved.

"But." was all I needed to say to turn his mood from happy, right back to concerned.

"But, what?" he asked, expecting there to be a costly surgery or a giant risk. But it was something else.

"The process will change me into a Pokemon." I said softly. My dad knew I wouldn't tell a lie as big as this. Especially in the situation I was in. He looked down at me, and took a minute to process the information. He took a deep breath. He was going to talk me out of it for sure. Say something that it would be weird or it wouldn't work out.

"Well, did you say yes?" he asked, expecting for me to say yes. I made myself believe that he wanted me to say no.

"I told him I wasn't sure. But after thinking it through, I'm going to turn it down." I said, trying to please him, or so I thought I was doing. His facial expression went from worried to angry.

"You'll turn it down?" he asked, angrily and softly. Confused by his attitude and drugs, it gave me a blistering headache. He surely wasn't in a joking mood.

"Yeah? I don't think it'd be the best decision." I softly said, hoping for his tone to change. He stood up, took a deep breath, obviously pissed at me. He began to pace around the room, trying to compensate all the emotions that were built up inside him. He swiftly faced me and laid it all down on me.

"You're going to turn down a second chance at being able to move again? Why?" he asked again, furious with my decision thus far. Knowing that he was as serious as could be. I had to state my argument and my feelings.

"I'm afraid that you would treat me differently!" He was taken back by this statement. He stared at me with a bewildered look. I wasn't through just yet. "You wouldn't see me as your son anymore, and that Kara wouldn't see me as a best friend anymore! Just a pet or I don't even know!" I argued softly, half believing what I was saying. The truth was, I don't believe that I would see myself the same. I was just scared. Tears began to well up behind my eyes. Thinking that I had got him, he looked at me intensely.

"Max, that is the most stupidest thing I've heard." he said sternly, his voice had some shake to it. As if he was sad to hear this. Taken aback by his statement, the only time he used that was to joke with me, but his tone was extremely the opposite of a joke. "I've taken care of you alone for these past thirteen years. I helped you with school, I watched you grow into the young man you are today. I have loved you always, and changing your form won't change that love." his voice began to shake. It got to me too, the dam of tears I had stored in my eyes had been let loose.

"Dad..." I softly said, wiping the tears off of my face.

"And Kara, she's your best friend Max. That girl would go through Hell and back with you if you asked. Nothing will change that girl's mind about you." His voice still shaking. He had to sit down to keep his composure. "Don't you dare say how we would feel about you. You're my son and nothing will ever change that." All I could do was just cry with him, believing every word of it.

"Dad, I just don't know." I said behind my tears. Still confused about it all.

"How would you think your mother would feel about this if she were here?" he said. Knocking the wind out of my spirit when he mentioned Mom. She died to cancer when I was three. I always kept her in my heart.

"Don't bring her into this please..." I begged him. He didn't listen, he wanted to prove his point.

"Do you think she would be proud to see you turn this opportunity down?" he asked me, already knowing the answer. I shook my head in response, trying to look away from him. "I know damn well, she wouldn't want her son to be a quitter. I bet you if she had this opportunity, she would take it immediately." Every word he spoke was the truth. When I always thought he had said enough, he always kept going. I had to stop him.

"Okay, okay. I get it." I said, wanting him to stop, wiping the tears off of my face. He did the same. "But, what could I do as a Pokemon? I wouldn't know what to do. I'm just scared about it." There was an obvious answer to all this, but I didn't know until my Dad spoke it.

"You could be apart of Kara's team. Help her become the best." he said, as if he prepared this a long time ago. "You could train with her, have an adventure with her, be a best friend for her." I took a second to think about it and I was convinced. I was going to do this. It would go along with the promise that Kara and I had committed too. I just needed one thing from her. Her acceptance.

"Dad, I'll do it." I said, he just smiled wiping the last bit of tears he had on his face. "Only if Kara says yes to it."

"If I say yes to what?" I turned to the door to see Kara standing there confused at what my Dad and I were talking about. Shocked and wondering what all she heard, my dad rose from his seat and began to make his way out of the room.

"I'll leave you two alone to talk about it." he said as he closed the door behind him. My heart was pounding. This was the moment of truth, whether or not I would wake up as a battle ready Pokemon, or a paralyzed human. She slowly walked near the seat Quinten sat in during his visit.

"What do I need to agree too?" she asked, not sure what to expect. I took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.

"Kara, I have been given the opportunity to be cured of my paralysis." I said, just like Dad she was completely excited about it.

"Well, whatever I need to say yes too I say yes!" she said laughing, tears of joy slowly streaming down her face. I could have easily said good and done the whole thing behind her back, but, she was too good for that. She deserved the details.

"Wait, I haven't told you the full story." I said, she then stopped and looked at me bewildered. "This man Quinten said that he could heal me through a certain therapy, that would change me into a Pokemon, completely healing my body." The look of surprise soon rushed over her face. She didn't want to believe me, however she had too. I wouldn't lie about this.

"Oh." Was all she could mutter, looking unsure at all of this.

"There's more. I want to do it." I continued, which shocked her even more. I think the next words out of my mouth will surely be the kicker. "But I'll only do it, if you let me be apart of your team." Looking at her straight in the eye, not blinking, or winking or even looking away. I gave her the most sincere look I had ever given a person. She began to cry more.

"Max, I don't know if I could. Bossing you around, training you and..." Her voice got too shaky for her to continue. Her head weighed down by the surreal thought of the process. I reached out my hand out to hers, she needed more than I did. She looked up to me.

"Kara, do you remember our promise that we made to each other?" I asked, I was referring to the one when we were kids. When we were ten, our goals were to become Pokemon Masters. Our promise was that if one couldn't succeed in their goal, the other would do all they could in their power to help the other achieve their goal. She knew which one I was talking about. She chuckled a bit, wiping her tears.

"I do. I've kept it to my heart all this time." she said,

"What changes that now?" I asked. Hoping this would be the question to convince her to agree. She closed her eyes to think about it all over for a second. She opened her eyes, looked right at me and spoke.

"Nothing at all." she said. Joy overcame my heart, she was going to agree. "I will gladly take you into my team." As if she read my mind. I was going to be apart of her team, I was going to be a Pokemon. It was too surreal. She came closer and hugged me as soft as possible. I did the same to her, putting a small deal of pain on what was left of my spine, but it was worth any pain.

"Thank you, Kara." I said, tightening my grip. We both released and I hid my pain beneath my smile.

"I just want to be beside your side the entire time of this treatment." She proposed.

"I promise, that can be arranged." I agreed, knowing that Quinten would do that for me.

Then there was a familiar knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, the door opened. It was Quinten. He had a small cup of coffee with him and a great smile on his face. Dad was right behind him, sharing another smile as well.

"So, what'll it be Max?" Quinten asked. I looked at Dad, he bowed his head in a 'yes' manner. I then looked at Kara as she did the same head motion. Looking at Quinten, already knowing the answer.

"I'm ready when you are."

* * *

 **PLOT TWIST?!**

 **Nah fam, you saw it coming. Thanks for reading chapter two.** **Please leave a fav, follow or a review if you'd like. I kindly appreciate it. Thanks again for reading, chapter 3 will be out within a few days so be prepared for it!**

 **Peace fam!**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Change

**Back at ya with the third chapter in this fanfic.**

 **So sorry for the lack of update. Had a crazy week of school with speeches and exams, also I wanted to take some time with this chapter, this chapter needed the extra time in it! (And also I had to start my grinding of The Division)**

 **But this is the transformation chapter! What will happen? Well, I guess you'll have to read and find out. ;)**

* * *

Looking out the hospital window, the moon was full and bright. The stars luminosity could not compare to the moon's. It had been a few hours since Quinten was here and I had agreed to go through with Poketranstherapy treatment. The thought of the process still scared me. Before he left he handed me a small pamphlet that described the process. I had read over the pamphlet at least ten times, memorizing the whole thing. It said that the whole process takes a week to complete and that there would be heavy anesthetics to make sure there's no pain. Great, more drugs.

The process in how it was described was very unethical by all means. No wonder how it wasn't accepted by any hospital or anything. Multiple drugs entering the body at once, while a shock therapy is happening to you. Just the whole process was unethical itself. Full body transformation? I had to do it though, no turning back.

He also had handed me a couple forms to sign. Such as the giving the doctor the ability to do the surgery, legal agreements as well as an agreement to keep the process secret. Pretty much saying to keep it a secret that I had become a Pokemon. I could only tell direct family, but I had made an agreement with Quinten that it would be okay with Kara. To me, she is apart of my family. Other than that, I'd soon be leaving this hospital to go on to undergo surgery. Quinten could be back at any time.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. It sounded more like a kick though.

"Come in." I anxiously allowed the knocker in. Thinking it was Quinten I tensed up. The door opened and it was revealed that it was Dad and Kara. Relieved, my muscles relaxed. Both of them were carrying bags that had the Golden Krabby logo on them. Just seeing that made my mouth water and my back hurt. Soon after Quinten left, it was about dinner time. All of us were starving and none of us wanted the hospital food so I suggested The Golden Krabby as my last human meal.

"We're back." Kara said, happily. She sat down and pulled two styrofoam boxes out and the smell of grilled seafood filled the air. She handed me one of the boxes and I quickly opened it up to see a grilled Krabby with some seasoned fries on the side. Hysterically, I took a large whiff of the delicious smell causing Kara and Dad to chuckle a bit. It was good to see them smiling, I just hoped this would continue on after my change. Dinner with the family.

I dug in to my food and it tasted just as good as it had ever been. Salty, crunchy and juicy. The holy trinity of tasty seafood was tasting as great as ever on my tongue. I looked over to see that Kara was slowly taking bites here and there. She was upset by the whole thing, but she somehow agreed. Maybe she's scared of what could happen to me, or she's scared of what she'll see. Quinten reluctantly said yes to letting her be by my side, but mentioned of how horrific it will look like. He also added that my body will go through changes that the body almost can't handle. Good things there were anesthetics for that.

Not wanting to kill the mood, or get everyone emotional, I ate my food quietly. Everyone did that, so I guess the mood was already somber. The quiet room then was filled with sound from Dad.

"So, Kara." he called out to her, after swallowing his food. She looked up to him. "What Pokemon do you think he'll become?" My eyebrows curled at his question. It was a weird one, but a thought provoking one. What would I become? Would I become something giant and powerful like a Charizard? Or something fast like a Greninja? Or would I be something lame like a Wurmple? I shivered at the thought of being a Bug Pokemon, gross. Hopefully something cool and powerful, I would be an extraordinary amount of help to Kara. She finished her bite of food and spoke up.

"You know, I haven't quite thought about that." she looked over to me, and thought a bit before answering. "Whatever he does become, I know it will fit him perfectly. As long as he stays himself." I smiled at her, thinking it was a good answer. Knowing it wouldn't be a Wurmple or a Coterie. It had said in the pamphlet that Quinten gave me after I said yes, that the treatment would be random. But it would be what your DNA closely resembled, which again, I had no idea what I closely resembled besides being human. As I was smiling at her, her face just began to deteriorate to a saddened expression. She started to tear up a bit, we've all been doing that a lot for the past couple of days.

"It's just.. It's gonna be a hard adjustment." she said. I feared this would happen. She wasn't going to see me as her best friend, but something else. _Maybe I shouldn't do this,_ I thought to myself. _I should call it off._ I was about to call Quinten and tell I wasn't going to do it, but Dad spoke up.

"It will be for all of us." Dad said, he put his empty tray aside. Kara and I looked over to him. He put his hands together, rubbing them together. "For you and I Kara, it's gonna be getting used to seeing an extra Pokemon walking around." He looked at me, I shivered again. "And Max here will have to get used to his new body." That was also true. Learning how to move around with a new skeletal frame, or no skeletal frame. Four legs or two legs. I could have wings for all I know. It will be quite the adjustment for all of us.

Dad was about to say something else until there was the famous knock on the door. We all jumped at it, my heart racing at the thought of my last hour as a human. It all became a reality at that point in time. The door then opened. It was Quinten. He was joined by two people wearing black scrubs. They didn't look like they worked at this hospital. As a group they walked in. Dad sighed heavily, while Kara just stared in disbelief. Quinten walked next to my bed and shook my hand.

"Mr. Max, how are you feeling?" he asked me smiling. I released his hand and I thought about his question. Too much stress and nerves were getting to my head.

"I'm nervous." Was all I could say. He put his hand to my shoulder.

"I assure you, you are in safe hands and should have nothing to fear." Quinten said. I don't know how to feel about him. He is being sincere, but, like all people. He has something to hide. But, to not ruin my chances, I just smiled and said thanks. He then looked at his two nurses, signaling them to do something. The two nurses nodded and went out of the room to grab something. While they did that, Quinten pulled out a syringe from his coat pocket. The sight of a needle made my insides twist and turn, it made it worse knowing that my body would be different within a week.

"W-what's that for?" I asked, my voice shaking. Trying my best to hide my fears. Quinten tapped the syringe to get the air bubbles to the top, before squirting it.

"This is just a muscle relaxant, it will numb your body within a few minutes." I looked over to Kara hoping she'd save me from this. Knowing that she always had, but, she wasn't this time. All she could do was take my hand and hold it. Slowly, Quinten came up to me and put his rough hands on my exposed right arm. He poked my skin with the needle, it was ice cold. "This will also knock you out while we transport you." he continued. The needle then impaled my skin and the cold medicine filled my bloodstream. Clenching up so hard, I knew I was crushing Kara's hand. Immediately felt weak and queasy. After all the medicine had been injected he pulled out the needle and patched my arm up in a small bandage. However, I had not realized this until Kara snapped me out of it.

"Max, he's done." Kara said, as she tried to release her hand. I looked up quickly and saw him smiling. There was a small tickling in my arm, it was the drugs kicking in. Soon after, the two nurses came back into the room with a stretcher on a roller. The tickling in my arm turned into a numbness as the medicine started to spread across my body. My vision also began to darken and disorientate.

"Wow.." is all I could have said. The drugs definitely had reached my brain. The room slowly began to spin, I looked at every one in the room. Kara, Dad, Quinten and the nurses. The darkness soon overcame my vision, hearing, and feeling before I fell into the void.

* * *

"Max." a voice said. I wasn't sure who it could have been. The voice was distorted and such. I wanted to respond, asking who it was, but my voice wouldn't work. My eyes weren't opening as well. The drugs were beginning to deteriorate from my bloodstream. The feeling in my upper back had returned, I was lying on something soft and warm.

"Max!" the same voice said again, a bit clearer. It sounded a bit more feminine. It was probably Kara. Again, I tried to respond again, but all my voice could manage was a small grunt. The feeling in my entire body came back in a small sense. My eyes slowly opened up to multiple blinding lights. Feeling a burst of energy, my upper body quickly reacted to the light fully refreshing my senses. However, moving put a sharp pain in my broken back. I grunted in pain loudly.

"Max, are you okay?" It was Kara's voice all along, she was right next to me. Slowly I opened my eyes again, taking in little by little. I could see that I was in an operation room, lying in some large pod. I couldn't see to much around me due to the walls in the pod. It was big enough to hold a fully grown Charizard. There were all kinds of spotlights focusing on me. I noticed that my arms and legs had some kind of needles injected in them, leading to different tubes and wires. I looked up to see that Kara was on the outside of the pod, looking down at me. She was at least a full foot above me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What is this?" I asked, referring to what this pod was. Hoping she was told by Quinten or a certain technician. Before she answered another voice came from the room.

"You are in a Trans Therapy Pod, or TTP for short." It was Quinten, for sure. He confirmed this by coming into view standing next to Kara. "How are you feeling Max? Are you ready?" he asked. Was I ready, was the question I asked myself a thousand times after committing to this. I had to be, ready to leave this body behind.

"I'm feeling a bit nervous, but I'm ready." I answered, my voice shaking. He looked at me smiling.

"Max, I assure you like before, you are perfectly safe here." he assured. Even if I didn't believe him, I would have had no choice but to believe him. There was no going back. I nodded to show that I agreed with him. Again he smiled even greater than before.

"Well, I'll go make sure preparations are ready and we'll begin in about three minutes." Quinten said before leaving my view. Kara looked down at me, trying to form a smile. However she was struggling.

"What's wrong Kara?" I asked. She shook her head,

"Nothing, I'm fine." She quickly brushed the tears off her face.

"Kara," I called for her again, giving her a look of concern. She wiped her face again, getting rid of all the tears.

"I'm scared, that's all." she admitted. "I'm scared that you won't be you by the end of this." It broke my heart to hear her say this. I knew this was a difficult decision. If I were in her shows I probably wouldn't want her to do this. I tried as hard as I could to reach my hand up to her's. The wires and the height made it nearly impossible.

"I promise Kara," I started, "Nothing will change who I am." She attempted to reach her hand down to mine in an effort to comfort the both of us. But, she was shortly cut off by a voice over a loud intercom.

"CLOSING POD DOOR" It was a very electronic masculine voice the projected from the intercom. No way it could have been human. The glass looking pane that was hiding behind the back of the pod began to roll over to cover the open section of the pod. Kara backed up to not get squeezed by the door. _This is it,_ I thought, _absolutely no going back from this._ My heart was racing, it was beating intensively hard. All of a sudden, flashbacks of very distinct memories came back. All the birthdays as a human and the heartbreaks and losses. The thought of waking up as a Pokemon was still surreal to me, would I really wake up as one? Or will I just wake up from this bad dream and continue on with this human life?

The door sealed shut, completely air tight. It wasn't really claustrophobic, I could practically sit up. Well, if I could I would. I looked over to see Kara placing her hand on the door, tearing up at the sight of me. It was hard to visualize what she was seeing at the moment. Her best friend, wired up and encased in a pod. It was definitely unethical by all medical practices, but, it was the only way I could explore the world again; and I was fine with that.

"Max?" Quinten asked coming through on a smaller intercom inside the pod. I could hear it echoing on the outside intercom as well. "We're all prepped and ready to begin. Just give us the go when you're ready." For a quick few seconds I faced Kara. She still had her hand placed against the pod door, it was too far for me to reach but I tried anyways and I mouthed the word, 'Thanks'. She smiled at me. It had been awhile since I saw her smile. Not from a small joke I said, or her trying to fake one. It was genuine. Seeing this, I took a deep breath.

"Quinten, fire it up." I said, the last words out of my human mouth. Quinten didn't reply, the static through the intercom had gone off and produced no more sound. My eyes were still on Kara, I wanted her to be the last thing I saw when I fell asleep, and the first thing in the morning. The same electronic voice from before spoke up again.

"RELEASING ANESTHETIC GAS" I looked around to see a white, steamy gas flood the pod. My vision started to blacken and become blurred. Kara was still there, I could't tell if she was still smiling or crying or none. The gas reached my nostrils and mouth and I then fell back into a deep slumber. With my final thoughts of being fully human.

* * *

Like before, it was dark. Nothing around me but empty space and dark atmosphere. This time however, I had a full body. It was my human body, wearing my normal clothing. Feeling a sense of deja vu, it was a bit mind numbing. Lying on the invisible floor, I began to sat up and realize my back didn't hurt and the feelings in my legs were back. I stood up quickly confused. _Was all that a bad dream,_ I asked myself.

"What is this?" I asked. No reply, obviously. Just an echo of my voice was all I got in return. I stood there for a second, unable to decide what to do. There was nothing here and not knowing how long it would be until I woke up. _I could walk, see how far this goes,_ I thought to myself again. It seemed a way to pass the time. I started walking in some direction, there was no sense of it here. As I walked, the darkness seemed to stay still. Giving the image of me no going anywhere. Just walking in place.

It didn't bother me, I just kept on walking.

"I wonder how everyone's holding up." I asked out loud. I wasn't really worried about Dad too much. He seemed completely on board with this idea. Like every other parent, he'll be surprised to see his son come home different. But, he'll adjust quickly.

Then there's Kipper, I haven't even seen Kipper since the night of my accident. He has no idea about this. "He's gonna be so pissed." I said, chuckling a bit. Knowing Kipper, he'll probably like it. Finally able to have a conversation with him, that was something to definitely look forward to. I was always able to tell what he wanted to do or how he felt. As well as many other instances like those, but not in depth conversations. Maybe I'll get to know him and Gem a bit more. They are going to be my teammates in a short while. On Kara's team that is.

Oh, Kara. Still, I was unsure of where she felt about this. If it were the other way around, I'm not sure how I would have felt. More than likely I wouldn't want her to do this. Probably, I wouldn't have been persuaded to change my mind. But, I'm glad it was me rather than her.

While walking in this abyss of darkness I looked down at my human hands. Believing that these were the last moments that I would see human hands. Once I wake up, I could be seeing paws, claws, wings or no hands at all. These hands would no longer be used for commanding Pokemon, but fighting them. I shivered at the thought of being a battling Pokemon. It was scary but also, exciting in a sense. I was always impressed by them using all different moves and doing incredible stunts to perform these tricks.

As I walked, thinking about battling. A small orb of light appeared ten feet in front of me. I jumped a bit from the sudden flash. The orb was effortlessly floating four feet off the ground, and was emitting a warm, welcoming light. Unsure of what to do with it. _Do I grab it_ , was the first question to pop into my head. Will I wake up or would I just have a new ball of light to accompany me until I do? It was all just weird.

Curiosity got the best of me as I made my way over to the light. No other thing to do right? Slowly I approached the light, the closer I got to it, the warmer and more peaceful I became. It was emitting something pleasant and that was truly a blessing. I stopped getting closer once it was a good foot and a half in front of me. There was a soft hum coming from the orb, my eyes were ensnared bytes light. I couldn't look away, even if I had wanted to.

Without my control, I reached my hand out, going to touch it. I was too focused on the light to touch it, my hand was a hair away from touching this orb. The orb then revealed itself to resemble the moon. As in, the moon that comes out in the sky at night, moon. As soon as I realized this my hand touched the core of the moon. A bright stream of light flooded over me and blinded me. I felt myself being picked up by this force and helplessly I flailed trying to release myself.

After being in this helpless state, I felt my body, change. There was a tingling all over my body, on my skin, in my bones and everything. At first it was a tickling feeling but it soon turned into a unrelenting pain. More painful than the bullet I took. I opened my eyes as much as I could. I placed my right hand in front of my face to see what was happening to me. My hand began to grow a black fur on it, I could feel it grow all up my arm. My bones in my thumb and my pinky finger began to retract back into my hand. Might as well have broken them, that would have hurt less. My other fingers and hand started to shift around inside and resembled more of a paw.

"What is this?!" I asked out. The pain was unreal, it was as if my entire body was being thrown into a meat grinder. I had to close my eyes for the rest of my changing. Grinding my teeth was not the way to go with dealing with the pain, as my teeth were beginning to form in the way of fangs. The fangs were cutting up the inside of my mouth as it was changing. The pain became too intense, I was blacking out inside a black out. Before I did, the light threw me up in the air, I looked up trying to see where it was taking me. All I could see was a big circle of light, before I blacked out once again. Hopefully for the last time.

To my surprise, the light dragged me into another darkness. But there was no changing pain in this one. All I could hear, was beeping. I was conscious, and in a hospital. I could also hear some idle conversations as well. However, I couldn't feel anything in my body. _Was it all a dream,_ I thought to myself. My eyes were sealed tight so opening my eyes wasn't an option. Perhaps this was my first time waking up after the accident, no there's no way. I distinctly remember all the events leading up to this. I had to have gone through the surgery. There was only one way to find out. With all the strength I had, I called out.

"Kara..." Was all I managed to say. It sounded more like a whisper in my ears. No response. Where could she be? Wishing I could lift my eyelids open, I was so weak and exhausted. I felt like I had ran three marathons and didn't sleep for two weeks. So many thoughts were going through my head. What was that dream about, what have I become, where's Kara? A little bit of my strength had returned and spoke again.

"Kara." I said again with a bit more strength and volume. I heard a shuffle next to me. Someone was really close. I kept trying to open my eyes, but my weakness would only allow a hair of opening. Not enough to see anything. Not to mention my head was stuck to one position. I gave out one final cry hoping to get an answer.

"Kara!" This time it was loud. Loud as my strength would let me. Not deafening, but enough to get someone's attention from across a room. I then heard someone shuffle again next to me, then I heard a feminine groan next to me.

"Huh?" It was Kara's voice. I was able to open my eyes up at least a fourth to see Kara. Thankfully, my body was positioned to be looking at her. Still unable to look down at my body, I was content knowing Kara was there. All I could see was that she was in a comfy looking, recliner chair and she had fallen asleep. The source of beeping was right above her, it was the heart monitor. The wall of the room had a bright, blue paint to it.

Kara looked down at me, and immediately she looked much bigger than I remember. The face she gave to me was of extreme relief. She looked like I walked through Hell and back, full of scars. She got out of her chair and leaned down to the level of the bed.

"M-Max?" she asked, her voice shaking heavily. I did my best to smile, I think I did a good job of it. She gasped in happiness, tears streaming down her face. "How does it feel?" she asked, getting close to me.

"I'm just... tired. What am I?" Was all I could say, that and I couldn't really feel anything but my mouth and eyes. However she just gave me an empty look, as if she didn't understand. Just to prove my thoughts, Kara then said.

"Max, I-I can't understand you." I was speaking the Pokemon language. There was no way she could translate it. Remembering faintly, Quinten had a device that translated his daughter, Gina. Looking around Kara's side of the room, trying to find the device he had. No luck. We just had to wait until someone with a device came in to help. I sighed at the thought of having to delay her from hearing my voice.

Kara got up and out of my view, I pulled some strength to turn my head to see the rest of the room. It was similar to the Cinna City hospital just with no windows, but nicer and cleaner equipment. But, it looked so much bigger than before. I really hope I'm not two feet tall. The smell was more pleasant as well, not the gross hospital smell. But I could look down at my body, the shape of it was a little hard to see. I was covered in so many sheets and blankets. Kara then opened the door down a mini hallway entrance to the room.

"Doctor! Max is awake!" She called out to someone, and sounded urgent. I felt fine, there really wasn't a problem. Just the problem of the delay of me talking to Kara. Hopefully we can get that arranged soon. Kara walked back in with a tall, dark skinned man. He looked pretty young too, probably twenty-three years old. He was wearing a stereotypical white jacket over some scrubs. He was also wearing the ear piece, I got excited to see that, that my tail wagged. Tail? I look down to my body to see something moving up and down. Shocked to see this, I couldn't fully express how I felt. Letting it go for the time being, the Doctor came up to me.

"Good Morning, Mr. Max. My name is Doctor Tenbrook." Doctor Tenbrook said, he had a slight accent to his speech. He sounded extremely nice, so that was huge relief. "How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"Really exhausted." I said, knowing he could understand me. He then placed the palm of his hand on my head. "I can't feel my body though." I explained. Hopefully it's supposed to be this way.

"That is to be expected, but after some more rest you should be ready to move again." The Doctor said, he began to write some things down on the clipboard he had. I saw Kara give a huge look of confusion to Doctor Tenbrook and I.

"Wait, you can understand him?" she asked, excited and a bit frustrated as well. Doctor Tenbrook nodded to her. "How is that even possible?" The doctor then pointed to his ear piece.

"This is the called the Trans Pokemon Translator, or TPT for short. It can only translate Pokemon like Max here, not any natural born Pokemon." the doctor explained. Which Kara was surprised, I don't think I told her about it beforehand. The question of what Pokemon I was still pondered in my head. No one has said anything about it yet.

"Doctor, what did I become?" I asked, he looked at me with a smile.

"How about I let you find out yourself." he said, grabbing a mirror from the table behind him. My new heart was beating fast, with the small amount of feeling I had in my body, I could feel it. He came up close to me and turned the mirror around, in the mirror staring back at me was an Umbreon. I couldn't believe it, staring at myself in absolute shock. Moving my mouth and new red eyes to make sure this wasn't a joke. My yellow ringed ears reacted to my emotions now, they were standing straight up.

"Wow." I said, it was all I could say. The impossible became possible. I turned my head as best as possible to see if all the details matched an Umbreon. The yellow circle on the forehead, the ears were right. If I hadn't known better, I would think I was just a normal Umbreon.

Today was the first day, of my new life.


	4. Chapter 4 - Adaptation

**A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, followed and favorited! I really appreciate the feedback, I hope you guys continue to enjoy this fan fiction as much as I do.**

 **For a** **side not, sorry about no recent updates. I was on Spring Break and was away from my laptop and internet.**

 **Enjoy chapter 4!**

* * *

After staring into the mirror for what seemed like an hour, trying to get a grasp of reality, I decided to look at Kara with a face of shock. Doctor Tenbrook placed the mirror back on the table of instruments. He looked back at me and wrote some more information down on his clipboard.

"I hope you are happy with the results." The doctor said, already knowing how I felt. It wasn't as intimidating as a Charizard, but it wasn't as weak as a Caterpie. So, you could say I'm happy with the results. Kara was looking a little timid, as if she was wanting to say something to Dr. Tenbrook. She wanted to hear me talk, and ask if I was okay.

"Excuse me, Doctor." I said, getting his attention from his clipboard. He looked to me, with an expression asking what. "Do you think Kara could borrow your translator thing?" I asked, not fully remembering what he called it earlier. Looking to Kara, knowing she couldn't understand half of what I was saying, she looked a bit more hopeful that she would hear my voice.

"Why absolutely," Dr. Tenbrook said, easing my tension. He placed his clipboard down the edge of the bed and began to take off his his translating ear piece. He had a bit of trouble, probably due to its slim, triangle shape. He picked up his clipboard and reached out his hand holding the ear piece to Kara. "Here you are dear. It is yours to keep." he said to Kara. She quickly snatched it from him, causing both the doctor and I to chuckle a bit. Kara had a bit of trouble putting on the translator on her ear in a natural position.

"Why is this thing shaped so weird?" Kara asked out of frustration. Doctor Tenbrook laughed as he began to make his way to the door.

"Max, everything seems good for you to check out." he said. Causing me to have comfort knowing I'll be healthy. He was halfway through the door frame before he stumbled back into the room. "Also, Quinten wants to have a word with you two before you departure, have a good day." He then left the room completely without another word. It troubled me a bit to know that Quinten would be here. Why was his presence so unsettling? A question that I would never fully get an answer to. Kara finally got her translator in the right position. She walked up to me and bent down on my level.

"Max?" I was tempted to say something sarcastic. Like, trick her into thinking that the translator wasn't working and speak Pokemon. But, she had been through a lot, seeing the horrific transformation of her best friend. The pamphlet could only fabricate the horrors so slightly, to see the real thing was beyond me.

"Kara." I said. Once those words came out of my mouth she began to tear up with happiness. She placed her hand on my head and stroked it softly. It was weird, with Kara petting me like this. But, it felt, good. She was happy to hear from me. She began to wipe her tears away before crying fully.

"Max, this is... unbelievable." Kara said, I'm sure she had so many questions for me, but for my sake, I guess she was going to keep it simple. "How does it feel?" she asked. Having a bit more strength, my voice was at a normal tone.

"I feel small," I said, chuckling a bit trying to keep things as simple as possible. She giggled a bit as well. "How are you holding up?" I asked. Who knows what horrors she saw during my operation? She looked down for a second before answering.

"I think I'll be just fine, knowing you're okay." she smiled, and rubbed the back of my new ear. It felt extremely well, now I could understand why Kipper enjoyed being scratched. As a reply I simply smiled at her, believing every word she said.

All of a sudden, the door opened again. My ears stood straight up, causing Kara to stand up. Both of us curious at who came in. It was Quinten. Who else could it have been? He was wearing the same clothing he was when I had been prepped for surgery. He came in with a smile on his face and took off his hat. He was also wearing a translator as well.

"Good morning, Max and Kara." he said. He pulled up a chair from the back wall and sat down. He gestured Kara to do the same. Reluctantly she did, and she scooted her chair as close to my bed as possible. "How are we feeling this morning?" Quinten asked, having heard this question at least three times so far I kept my answer the same.

"I feel tired." I said. Quinten nodded, knowing this already.

"Well, I'm happy to say, you had a flawless transition with no problems." he said. I relaxed a little bit, thinking he was bringing some bad news. It got quiet for bit before Kara spoke up.

"So, are we free to go?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. She must have felt the same about his presence.

"Yes, once I'm finished you may leave." he said as he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a piece of paper, it looked like a list. He put on the glasses he had around his neck and adjusted his head to read the fine print. "Just a reminder, here are some guidelines once you leave." Quinten cleared his throat before continuing. "First things first, neither of you can tell anyone about your transformation. Only you two and Max's father can know about this." he looked very stern about this. I remember reading this in the contract I had signed, but I never got an answer to any of it.

"Quinten?" I asked, trying not to interrupt him. He looked up to me, anticipating my question. "Why can't we tell anybody about this?" Quinten adjusted himself in his chair, clearly uncomfortable, before answering.

"Well, to put it bluntly. This is extremely illegal in the Jinza region." he said, causing both Kara and I to project looks of shock. None of us could say anything, we were speechless. "To put it in an even bigger perspective, it's illegal worldwide. So, for both our sakes, let's keep it secret." He said. I tried to let it slide but it was hard. All I could do was nod and move on. Quinten continued.

"Next, Max, you're going to need to wait at least a week before using any battle moves, or battling in particular." I'm not sure what was worse, knowing that this kind of operation is illegal or not being able to train and battle for at least a week. "Your body has gone under so much stress, using any kind of battle move soon could kill you." I gulped as loud as my Umbreon throat could gulp. Almost dying a couple weeks ago, and now knowing I could die just as easy. Good thing I didn't know how to even use a move.

I looked over to Kara, she looked a bit scared. Both of us were. Quinten took off his glasses and put the list of guidelines back into his coat pocket. Soaking in all the information, I was fine. Really no one I could tell about me being a Pokemon and not knowing how to use a move, so I was fine.

"Any questions?" Quinten asked us. I looked at Kara, Kara looked at me. We both looked back at Quinten and shook our heads. He chuckled and got up. "Then, you are free to go. See you around." With that, Quinten left the room, leaving Kara and I alone. We looked at each other not sure what to do.

"I guess we just go?" I said, confused. Kara stood up and scratched her head before grabbing her bag off the floor next to her chair. She put her bag around her shoulder and came up to me. I couldn't walk, and there was only one way we were leaving here. Kara had to carry me.

"You ready for this?" she asked, with an awkward tone. Knowing what was next, I blushed at the thought. This was going to be a huge adjustment for the both of us.

"Just get it over with." I said, my ears drooping. Blushing hard, she giggled at me. She reached down and moved the blankets and covers from my bed revealing the rest of my body. It felt so weird looking down seeing a completely black fur covered body. No pale, human body. But a smaller body with yellow rings and a tail. Kara slowly and carefully slid her hands under me. As weird as it was, I had to get used to this for the next few days. Slowly, Kara picked my weak body and cradled me, stomach facing the floor. I adjusted as best as I could to be comfortable. Good thing I was small enough to fit in her arms or we'd both be in trouble.

"You comfortable?" Kara asked, my ears perked downwards. I was, very comfy. It felt natural to be laying like this, I could easily fall asleep here.

"Yeah." I said, softly, my eyes drooping. I looked up at her and she smiled as we made our way through the Crysta Hospital. Stepping out into the hallway it was long with many doors. It looked exactly like the hospital in Cinna but, not as lively as the other. There were no doctors, no nurses, just us. Kara carried me down to the end of the hallway to what looked like elevators. There was a small waiting area where the elevators were positioned. There were giant windows that overlooked Cinna City. Like everything else, it looked much, much bigger. It had to be early, early morning. No one was on the streets and the Sun hadn't come out yet, just barely peaking over the horizon.

Kara went up to the elevators and pressed the down arrow. The arrow glowed a red color as a sound came from the elevator. She'd been quiet, I'd thought that she'd be asking a lot of questions. It would probably have been best if I wouldn't bother her. She had obviously been through a lot these past few weeks.

The elevator eventually got to our level. The elevator doors opened and Kara walked inside the elevator box. The number '65' was glowing on the top. Kara pressed the first floor button and the doors soon shut.

"How are we getting home?" I asked. We better not be walking home this early in the morning. Plus, it being a two hour walk from Cinna City back to Rozetown.

"We'll be walking." Kara answered. My ears drooped down, knowing it would be another two hours until I could get some rest. Kara noticed my ears and chuckled a was going to be hard adjusting to this body, I kept looking down at my body and my paws still trying to believe it all.

The elevator was quickly passing all sixty-four floors that were below us. Eventually reaching the ground floor with a glowing number '1' where the number sixty-five was once at. The doors to the elevator slid open and it revealed a lobby like area. The doors to the city were a short walk ahead, and there was a receptionist desk close to the doors too. Behind the desk was a blonde young lady, doing some paperwork. Kara began to walk towards the doors and the receptionist smiled at us.

"Have a wonderful day!" she said. Kara looked back and smiled. Without thinking I spoke up.

"Thanks, you too!" Quickly remembering, I couldn't speak the common language. The receptionist chuckled a bit.

"What a cute Umbreon you have. What's its name?" the receptionist asked kindly to Kara. I blushed at her comments, trying to hide my face from her. Kara awkwardly smiled.

"Thanks, uh, his name is Max." Kara said, her voice a bit shaky. Internally I was beating myself up, putting Kara in this situation.

"Well, I hope you and Max have a great day." she waved us goodbye. Kara smiled and waved back before going through the glass doors to Cinna City. As soon as Kara stepped outside, we were welcomed with the beautiful sunrise that illuminated the city with a crisp orange glow.

The street we were on was nearly empty. Maybe two other people were on the opposite sidewalk. Hardly any cars as well. It was peaceful. However, that didn't make me feel better about what had just occurred inside Crysta.

"Sorry." I said, my ears drooping. I looked up to Kara who looked a bit frustrated. Feeling her voice clench beneath me, I expected her to yell at me.

"That's it. I'm tired of this." Kara said, she sat down roughly on one of the many wooden benches on the sidewalk, causing me to catch myself with the little strength I had. I looked up at her and saw that she was starting to cry. "I'm tired of being sad, I'm tired of crying like this all the time. I feel like I'm always saddening everyone around me. You, your Dad and..." she was going to continue but her crying got in the way.

I couldn't do anything but agree. I hated seeing her like this. Always sad and crying due to my decision. Putting my head against her body, trying to show some sympathy. She wrapped her arm around me. We sat there for awhile, trying to calm her down. Kara started to rub my neck and ears as her crying slowly began to fade away. I pulled my neck away from her and looked into her eyes.

"Kara, it's okay. There's nothing wrong about being sad in this situation." I assured her. She was wiping the rest of the tears from her face. "You aren't bringing any of us down. We're all dealing with this in our own ways."

"I wish mine didn't involve so much crying." she said,

"Well, I wish mine didn't involve so much fur." I said, getting her to laugh a little. To get the mood higher I kept at it. "Am, I really that cute of an Umbreon?" I asked, lightly. She chuckled some more.

"Hm, nah not at all. You're quite ugly." she joked, getting me to laugh now.

"Wow, Kara. Aren't you just the greatest friend in the world?" Sarcastically I asked, both of us laughing quite a bit. The mood had gotten a whole lot better. We were quite good at that. One moment we could be in the worst mood and we'll start cracking jokes to cheer us up. We got quiet for a few seconds before Kara wrapped her arms around me in a hug as I leaned in.

"Thanks Max." she said before releasing her arms on me. Smiling at her I said,

"I'm always gonna be here for you." She smiled back and realized that the streets were starting to populate with more people. "We'd better get back home. Your dad is waiting for you." It hadn't come to me yet but my father hasn't seen me at all since I left the hospital.

Kara stood up and we made our way down the street towards the exit of the city to Route 113. On our way down this street, I took in all there was to see through my Umbreon eyes. How tall everything was now; the buildings, the trees and the cars. It was truly fascinating. Never had I been so impressed with these things as a human. The things in life you take for granted.

But then, we began to pass by a large group of people. My heart skipped a beat, it was a mix of nerves and excitement. But the nerves soon took over. Something about passing by people down the street made me grow a little anxious. It made me think they could tell something was different about me, that I wasn't just an average, everyday Umbreon.

We eventually had to join in a group of people waiting to cross the mildly busy outer street of the city. Everyone was on their cell phone, sleeping on while standing or conversing with one another. A couple of glances came my way, as if something was wrong. It made me shake and I could feel the hairs on my back stand straight up.

I tried my best to hide it from Kara, but I think my shaking gave it away.

"Hey." Kara whispered to me, causing my ears to go up. Looking to her she rubbed my back softly. "It's okay. You're fine." Her voice and the gentle stroking of my back calmed my nerves. The people who were glancing at me were just looking around aimlessly. Stupid nerves. Stupid people for that matter too.

The walk symbol on the panel across from us eventually glowed, indicating us to walk across. With the crowd of people, we all moved together across the street. I didn't notice it before, but the Cinna City Park was right behind a small iron fence. There were hardly any people there, a few trainers out running with there Pokemon. My eyes glowed at the sight, I missed this place.

"Kara, we have to come back to this park soon." I said, as she reached the fence. She stood and took in the same view. The park was even more beautiful in the morning. The beautiful orange tint glow, illuminated the park.

"I agree," she said. "Perhaps to train?" she asked me. It excited me, my tail started moving a bit. I blushed at my excitement being so apparent. I don't know why but, battling had seemed more exciting as a Pokemon. Maybe it was my new instincts? Kara laughed at my tail wagging. "I'll take that as a yes." For a few moments longer we watched the beautiful scenery, taking in all of its beauty before turning towards the exit.

The exit was practically a wall that surrounded the city that stretched up to 200 feet. The purpose of this wall was to keep wild Pokemon from coming in and causing havoc and mischief. There were doors to these walls that had a small rest station inside for travelers and trainers. Not as comfy and welcoming as a Pokemon center I'd say, but decent enough if you've been traveling for a few hours.

The door to the rest station was just few feet in front of us. I looked back at Cinna City and quickly remembered all the things that had happened in the last few weeks. The accident, the offer and the end results. I accepted this life and will have to live with it for the rest of my life.

Kara opened the door to the rest station and were greeted with a very outdoor smell. It was as if there was a forest growing in the room. It was strong for both of us, we had not been accustomed to the smell for a few weeks. Inside there were a few people, no trainers however.

All of them were sitting in the chairs in the small waiting room that were provided. They had obviously seen better days. There were some vending machines that haven't been updated in ten years, same could be said for the TV that was provided. It was also extremely humid in the room as well, like a sauna. Oh wait, there wasn't any air conditioning either. Yeah, these places sucked.

I know Kara didn't like these places at all as well, seeing as to how quickly she walked through the station. At the end there was another door that lead to Route 113, the way home. From here it would be at least an hour's walk, depending on if we got stopped by weather or wild Pokemon. Wild Pokemon, how would we deal with that?

"Kara, what are we going to do if we get stopped by a wild Pokemon?" I asked, a bit to frantic and loud. It caused some of the people to look at me, wondering why an Umbreon sounded so scared. Kara brushed off the people's glances and pulled out two small Pokeballs.

"I got Kipper and Gem to help out with that." she winked at me before enlarging the capsules to their normal size. This was going to be something else. Not only have I not seen Kipper in weeks, or Gem for that matter, he's going to be in for a big surprise. Not only that, but, I'd be able to have a full fledged conversation with him. Which is, pretty cool and nerve racking at the same time. My tail and ears were going nuts.

Once we reached the door that lead outside, we were met with a beautiful scenery of the Route 113. The trail was wide and there were trees that surrounded the trail and went on for what seemed like forever. It was an exact opposite of the city behind us and I loved this more than that.

A lot of great memories were made on this route, I don't know why now they would all come back to me. I remember my first battle with Kara, we were both about thirteen. We went about half a mile out of Rozetown to have this battle. Both of us were so nervous and exciting, we were shaking the entire walk there. As surprising as it may seem, we drew a tie. Our first tie, and definitely not our last one. I could go on and on about how many other memories I had here, but that would take at least two chapters worth of the story.

Kara stopped for a moment to let Kipper and Gem out. Before she threw the Pokeballs to release them, under my breath I said,

"Here we go." Kara threw the Pokeballs a good distance outwards onto the trail and two bright lights emerged from the Pokeballs as they hit the ground. My other best friend Kipper came out of the light with Kara's Pokemon, Gem. Kipper stretched out his fins and back as soon as he was revealed. Next to him was Gem, she simply walked around a bit. Kipper turned around to me and Kara with a smile that soon evaporated. He looked around and looked a bit confused. He was looking for me.

"Hey, where's Max?" Kipper asked, his voice was a bit lower pitched than what I would have expected it. He then looked at me, "And who are you?" he asked another question. I took in a deep sigh before answering, for I knew this would be quite the tale to tell.


End file.
